Thundersnow
by Samantha-Girl Scout
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple ski trip. But it turned into so much more. And no one was ready for it.


Marinette was known for being habitually late. She was late for class, late for her shifts at the bakery. She was even late for her best friend's birthday party. It didn't matter how many alarms or reminders she received, she was always late.

Therefore it came as no surprise when Marinette nearly missed the bus for the school ski trip.

"You're lucky that Ms. Cesaire asked for us to wait five more minutes, Ms. Dupain-Cheng," Ms. Mendeliev said from her place at the front of the room.

"Sorry, Ms. Mendeliev," Marinette said, panting. After over a year of being Ladybug she had given up on using excuses when she showed up late. There was no way for her to keep track of her excuses.

Ms. Mendeliev harrumphed and ticked something off on her clipboard. "Take a seat. We have to go over a few details before we leave."

"Yes, Ms. Mendeliev."

Marinette made her way to her seat and gracelessly set all of her things on her desk. She wiped away the sweat that was forming on her brow from wearing more layers than she was used to in the school building.

Alya scooted over and leant over, using their bags as a shield against Ms. Mendeliev's piercing stare, and started whispering to her.

"Geeze, girl, what happened?"

"I overslept," Marinette said as she scratched at the back of her head.

It wasn't a lie, exactly. She had slept in later than she had meant to, but, surprisingly, she had woken up with plenty of time to still make it to the school. On her way she had been distracted by a small robbery and, despite Tikki's warnings to just call the police, transformed to take care of the situation. And, while she had taken care of the criminal quickly, it took the police a long time to retrieve them from her custody.

"Girl, I don't know how you're going to survive after we graduate."

"Me, either," Marinette laughed. "I—"

"But we won't be going anywhere if you can't pay attention!" Ms. Mendeliev yelled from the front of the room. Marinette and Alya immediately straightened up in their seats and did their best to withstand Ms. Mendeliev's icy glare.

After a moment she continued, "As I was saying: while I understand that this is going to be a fun trip, safety is a priority. No one is to be traveling around alone. All of you are all to report to breakfast each morning at 8AM sharp." A glare at Marinette. "And you are to adhere strictly to the day's itinerary. Understood?"

"Yes, Ms. Mendeliev," the class chorused deadpan.

Almost everyone in the class had been upset when they found out that Ms. Bustier would not be chaperoning the trip. They didn't know all of the details, but she told the class that there'd be a change of plans. She said that it had been the school's decision, but many of them suspected that something more serious was going on. No one believed that Ms. Mendeliev was a good substitute, but they all did their best to not say as such to her face since there were rumors going around that, if Ms. Mendeliev had not volunteered, their class would not have been able to attend the trip with the rest of the school

Ms. Mendeliev frowned. It was likely that she was aware of the student's preference of teacher, but she chose to hold her tongue.

"Anyways," she continued, "As I'm sure many of you have noticed, Ms. Raincomprix is not here today."

Marinette looked around the room and was surprised to find a sullen Chloe sitting by herself. In her rush to her seat she had, in fact, not noticed the girl's absence. She turned to Alya in askance as Ms. Mendeliev continued.

"According to Mr. Damocles, Ms. Raincomprix was apparently walking home yesterday when she fell and broke her arm. She's alright, but she is not going to be joining us for the trip so that she can have a chance to rest at home before classes resume.

"From my understanding you were supposed to room with Ms. Raincomprix, correct Ms. Bourgeois?"

Chloe nodded.

Ms. Mendeliev consulted her clipboard. She looked around the room and then frowned.

"Can you tell me as to why Ms. Kubdel is not on the roster and there are three of you girls rooming together?"

"Alix's grandpa hasn't been doing well lately, Ms. Mendeliev," Marinette volunteered, "Since she was supposed to room with Mylene, Alya and I volunteered to have Mylene room with us so that she wouldn't have to be in a room by herself."

"Ms. Bustier said that they'd be able to find a roll out mattress or something to make it work," Alya said.

"I see. And who had planned to sleep on that roll out mattress?"

"Marinette," Alix said with a smirk. The three girls had held a competition of sorts beforehand. It was far simpler than most of Alix's challenges with Kim, but the tournament-style game of rock, paper, scissors had been far more complex than was necessary in Marinette's opinion. Each girl tried her best, but, when all was said and done, Marinette had come in last place.

Marinette didn't necessarily mind that she had lost. In fact, if there was some sort of emergency, then having her own bed meant that she wouldn't have to worry about waking anyone while she snuck out. But as Ms. Mendeliev consulted her clipboard, frown on her face, Marinette felt her stomach sink.

"Well, as unfortunate as Ms. Raincomprix's accident is, it seems as though things will be able to even themselves out because of it. Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I'm moving you to Ms. Bourgeois' room."

Both girls gasped.

"Ms. Mendeliev! I can't room with, with, with her!" Chloe said pointing a scandalized finger in Marinette's direction.

"I don't want to room with her either!" Marinette cried out.

"I'd rather sleep on the floor of some shack than—"

"Quiet!" Ms. Mendeliev shouted. After a brief pause she continued. " Mr. Damocles made it very clear in the chaperone's meeting that none of you are to room alone. There are far too many possible safety concerns and therefore this decision is final. Are we clear?"

Both girls crossed their arms, turned in opposite direction, and sighed simultaneously.

Ms. Mendeliev was not impressed. "I said: are we clear?"

"Yes, Ms. Mendeliev," the girls said, reluctantly.

The teacher rubbed the bridge of her nose under her glasses. After a moment, she took a deep breath a tucked her clipboard under her arm as she stood up straight.

"Alright, I imagine that our bus driver has been waiting long enough. Get all of your things stowed away under the bus and then get on it. I don't care who sits with who, but you're in charge of keeping track of where your roommate is. Throughout this whole trip I will call out your room numbers and one of you is to respond with whether your room is all in attendance or not. Understood?"

"Yes, Ms. Mendeliev," the class said in unison.

"Good. Now let's go."

The room erupted in noise as everyone gathered their things.

"I can't believe that I have to room with, Chloe," Marinette groaned as she buried her head in her bags.

"Hey, I know the two of you don't get along," Adrien said as he turned around, "But this trip could give you guys a chance to get to know each other better. Who knows maybe even by the end of it you two will—"

"I know you mean well, honey," Chloe said as she came to a stop beside Adrien's desk, "but nothing is going to come of this."

She didn't give any of them a chance to respond before she walked away.

* * *

By the time that their class arrived outside, most of the other five classes had already piled into the three charter buses that the school was renting. They stowed their non-essential bags below and then situated themselves as comfortably as they could for the long drive to Chamonix.

Thankfully, there was enough room on the bus to allow Chloe a seat completely to herself.

Between losing Sabrina and gaining one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Chloe was in no mood to deal with anyone else. She heard Kim attempt to gain her attention multiple times, but she did her best to ignore him and anyone else that tried to 'include' her.

She didn't need their pity.

About halfway to their destination, the buses stopped to allow the students a short break. According to the itinerary they would arrive at the lodge just in time for a late lunch. While most of her peers left the bus to stretch their legs, take care of business, and buy snacks, Chloe chose to stay on the bus.

She watched as her classmates and other students from their school left the bus in a mass exodus. She was pretty sure that, Adrien had tried to gain her attention as he walked by, but she did her best to make herself look as 'unavailable' as possible by pretending to sleep.

She knew that he was going to try to give her another friendship speech. It was the same one every time and she was getting absolutely sick of it. She didn't need to be friends with someone like Marinette.

Marinette had everything that she could ever want. She had friends, a loving family, the respect of her peers, and she never had to work hard to achieve success. If Chloe became friends with Marinette, then she would be continually reminded of all the things that she didn't have.

Besides, what was the point in becoming friends with Marinette when she already had a best friend like Sabrina?

Chloe stared silently down at her phone as the bus began moving again.

She could hear Mendeliev lecturing everyone about the rest of the day's schedule. Chloe already knew what they were going to be doing, though, so she navigated to her inbox and looked at the long string text messages that she had already sent off to Sabrina. She knew that her best friend was more than likely still sleeping, but she had hoped that she would respond sooner rather than later to alleviate her boredom.

Instead, Chloe was left to watch another one of the many movies that she had downloaded onto her phone. After a short while, though, even the sound of the actors talking became too annoying for her. Sighing rather loudly, Chloe switched to her music player and closed her eyes.

Maybe if she fell asleep this travesty of a trip would end sooner.

* * *

"Alright, everyone, settle down!" Ms. Mendeliev shouted over the chatter of her students. "I have the keys for your rooms I want all of you to take your things upstairs and then meet back in the lobby right away. The staff here has been generous enough to accommodate our late arrival and has prepared a light lunch for all of you. When I call your names, come forward and get your keys from me.

"Mr. Agreste, Mr. Lahiffe. You're in Room 302."

"Thank you, Ms. Mendeliev," Adrien said as he retrieved their keys. He and Nino made their way toward the elevator and chatted as they went.

"Ms. Bourgeoise and Ms. Dupain-Cheng— Room 412."

Marinette was about to thank the teacher and head in the same direction, but Chloe was faster. The other girl snatched the keys out of Ms. Mendeliev's hand and took off toward where Adrien and Nino were waiting for the elevator to arrive. Marinette threw out a quick apology as she attempted to catch up.

Thankfully Adrien held the door for her.

"Thanks, Adrien."

"No problem, Marinette."

She felt her stomach swoop as he smiled a dazzling smile at her.

"Have this weekend fun, Ready?"

Adrien tilted his head at her and Marinette felt her cheeks immediately flush.

"I-I mean" are you ready to have fun this weekend?"

He laughed. "Yes. I'm a bit nervous, though because it's been a long time since I last skied."

"Wait, do you mean we've finally found something that you're not good at?" Nino asked as he slung an arm around Adrien.

"I'm sure you'll ski flawlessly, Adrikins," Chloe said as she latched onto one of his arms. "Don't you remember how well you skied when we went to Switzerland?"

"That was when we were seven, Chlo. Besides, dad only let us ski on the bunny slope remember?"

Chloe pouted. "But you were still really good at it! You could probably even skip the lesson tomorrow morning!"

The elevator dinged and Adrien gently pried Chloe from his arm.

"As flattering that is to hear, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to need that lesson if I'm going to keep up with a pro like you." He winked as he poked her nose. Chloe immediately recoiled which allowed him to leave the elevator without further incident.

"See you guys soon!"

"Bye!" Marinette waved as the doors closed.

Chloe scoffed.

"You know you're acting pathetic, right?"

Marinette rounded on Chloe.

"Why don't you mind your own business?"

"I would if I didn't have to be forced to watch such a pathetic display."

Marinette had to take three deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Look, Chloe, I don't want to room with you any more than you want to room with me. Let's call a truce for now. I don't want to waste this whole trip fighting with you, and I doubt that you want to do that either. Then, once we get back to school, we can go back to fighting."

Marinette felt her heart pound as she extended her hand out, expectantly. She didn't quite believe that Chloe would be able to adhere to a true cease-fire, but she had to at least try to be the better person in order to salvage as much of the trip as she possibly could.

If that meant sacrificing a bit of her sanity, then so be it.

Chloe stared at her hand for a few moments not saying anything. Marinette couldn't read her, but it looked as though she was conflicted. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Chloe immediately turned and started walking down the hallway.

Marinette followed close behind. She still didn't have a key, and there was no telling whether Chloe would allow her entry should she be locked out. An awkward silence hung between them as they walked down the long hallway.

Finally they arrived at the room. Marinette expected Chloe to open the door and then proceed to slam it in her face, but instead she merely stood there, staring at numbers nailed into the finished wood. She stood there for nearly a full minute before turning around and looking Marinette dead in the eye.

"I have five conditions: We only talk when absolutely necessary. I take the bed the furthest from the window. You shower at night. Lights out no later than twenty minutes after I've gone to bed. And no discussing any of my sleep habits with anyone else." Chloe extended Marinette's key towards her. "Understood?"

Marinette blinked. She had expected Chloe to make conditions for the truce, and she had been more than willing to sacrifice her pride in exchange. But while the demands were delivered with a snobbish tone, Chloe's requests were much milder than what she had expected.

Maybe there was hope for this weekend, yet.

Marinette snatched the key from Chloe.

"Deal."

* * *

[A/N Thanks for reading!

So a bit of story with this one:  
So around this time last year I had this idea, but I was afraid to do it because I was working on Fire and Gold as well as other projects. Well when I went to do my ML Secret Santa story I had the idea to use this idea for my recipient since they had chlonette as an option... only I realized that to do this justice it would have to be at least 20k+... and I only had a week to do it. So, after writing the first chapter, I decided to put it to the side and do something completely different which resulted in Hot Chocolate. And, now that I'm in a major slump due to some irl stuff I decided to chip away at this idea instead of anything else because I can't write anything rn. There's no telling what I'll post or when, but I hope that you all can understand that life happens and that nothing is going to go unfinished forever... it's just probably going to be a while. (Most likely not until I get a different job.)

(Also this will be cross posted to right away... but was being terrible right now and not letting me so I said fuck it because I'm tired of hoarding it and therefore it appeared on ao3 first.)

Anyways, thanks again for reading and please let me know what you think.]


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